Dear Ms May,
I write to you on behalf of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation to express our total dismay at the presentation you made of petition e-2710, which in itself includes clear illustrations of the “new” antisemitism, singling out the Jewish State for discrimination and double standards. Your statement contains many falsehoods that need to be addressed. We hope your statements DO NOT represent the views of the new Green Party of Canada leadership, as the Party has in the past been tainted by people using antisemitic rhetoric, and campaigning to denigrate Israel.
To be precise, I am inserting comments below the words you are reported to have spoken in the House, pointing out their inaccuracy, antisemitic character, and damaging impact for Jewish citizens of Canada.
Elizabeth May:
“It relates to the ongoing debates around Israel's plans to annex the occupied Palestinian West Bank. The Government of Canada opposes this, of course. It would be an illegal act should it happen.”
CAEF notes that there never was a plan to “annex” territory but to extend Israeli sovereignty over land inhabited by close to 500,000 Jewish Israelis who currently live under ancient Ottoman law in Area C, intended to become part of Israel, as agreed to in the Oslo Accords, and which are historically Judea and Samaria, part of the original Israel. There has NEVER been a county called “Palestine” at any time in human history, so it is inaccurate to refer to this area as “Palestinian” and the label “West Bank” is the Jordanian concept introduced when Jordan illegally occupied the area from 1949-1967 after an offensive war against the Jewish state. There is no international law that holds this area to be “occupied” because it was not held by any country since Jordan, the illegal occupier, vacated. Prior to that, the land was part of the Mandate for Palestine, and if you read factual history, you will know that the area was designated by the San Remo Resolution of 1920, and the League of Nations in 1922 and the UN in 1947 as part of the reconstituted State of Israel.
If you are interested in “illegal acts” of occupation, where is the Green Party campaign against Russia for occupying Crimea, against China for occupying Tibet, against Morocco for occupying Western Sahara, and now where is your outrage over the real war over Nagorao-Karabakh in which residents voted to join Armenia and Azerbijian invaded? Do you only bring motions forward to vilify Israel, the only Jewish state, and ignore real human suffering around the world? That is a clear example of antisemitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which was adopted by Canada.
Elizabeth May:
“The undersigned citizens and residents of Canada call on the government to put some force behind the call that Israel step back from this illegal action by banning the importation of settlement products into Canada, incorporating a settlement exclusion clause into the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement, differentiating between those products made within legal Israel and those of the occupied territories and asking the Canada Revenue Agency to take steps relating to the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund of Canada, which is supporting illegal settlements.”
Calling for a boycott of Israeli products is itself an act of antisemitism and against Canadian values. The entire BDS campaign has one goal, and it has never been hidden, so it surely must have come to your attention that the founders of BDS and majority of its supporters want to destroy the entire Jewish state of Israel. That is akin to calling for another Holocaust and it is insufferable that you would support such a position. The communities in Judea and Samaria that are home to Jews are not to be treated as the pariah you would wish, despite your choosing to call them “illegal settlements.” Many are cities of some size with an established infrastructure, with established democratic institutions, with universities of higher education, suburban style residences, religious institutions and community facilities. The BDS campaign considers the city of Jerusalem to be “illegally occupied” which is a tragic call by Jew haters since it is well known that it was not an important city when under Jordanian control, and the Temple Mount was not then considered a major holy site either. The enemies of Israel, probably many of the 1100 who signed petition e-2710, want to create a state that bans Jews from access to Jewish holy sites and actually demonstrates true apartheid as no Jews would be allowed to live or work in what would be another Islamist country under a tyrannical dictatorship. Does the Green Party even now call for democracy for Palestinian Arabs who are governed by the terrorist entities of Hamas or The Palestinian Authority? As 20% of Israelis are Arabs, why do you wish to support punishing Jews who advocate for integration and equality and support Arabs who want to destroy equality, inclusion, tolerance, interfaith dialogue, and any rapprochement between the people of Israel and its neighbors?
Ms May, surely in your final address to the House as a party leader, you might have celebrated advances towards peace, such as the Abraham Accords, instead of invoking antisemitic tropes against the one and only Jewish state, lies about Israel, and promoting an anti-Israel agenda for Canada.
Lastly, if you are going to go after a Jewish charity that has contributed to the most environmentally sound policies of any country, planted more trees than any other country in the world, and helped to resettle more refugees and build sound infrastructure for a vibrant formerly arid land, then that is the Jewish National Fund. Shame on you!
I imagine that you have no idea about what JNF does so here is an excerpt for you to consider: JNF is the agency responsible for funding new technologies that include projects such as: Growing crops in recycled water; using vegetative growth to push back encroaching desert sands and Water management and harvesting methods that support Israel’s infrastructure.
The world benefits from the work of JNF among other entities using Israeli technologies to improve the environment.
I look forward to learning that your Party reviews its policies towards Israel and develops the friendship and understanding that is now exhibited by Bahrain and the UAE.
Regards,
Andria Spindel,
Executive Director
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